Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

GL did have some angst-ridden, doomed young couples in the '60s. I don't know if any were signature. Johnny and Peggy might come closest.

[Reverend Ruthledge]

It was an event but not a huge one. It was held in the backyard of the Bauer home with Bert, Meta, Peggy, Ed, Hope, Rick, Stephen, Holly, Ken, Janet, Barbara, Joe and Sara in attendance. 

[DRW50]

Thanks, as always.

[Paul Raven]

Weddings in the 60's were pretty low key affairs. Some even happened offscreen. I guess it was a budget thing as much as anything else.

Two biggies were Ellen/David on ATWT and Lenore/Walter on AW where they went all out on special sets etc

[robbwolff]

Another biggie was Althea and Nick's wedding on The Doctors in the fall of 1968.

[P.J.]

So...in reading the recaps of the reveal that Carrie killed Diane and Joe--it sounds anti-climactic. Carrie just cracks and tells Ross? Was it as big a letdown as it seems? Plus, I don't think she'd been in town that long before Diane died.

[DRW50]

She hadn't been, although they had some run-ins.

They also said Carrie and Diane knew each other before arriving in Springfield - another case where backstory doesn't really up the stakes from what I've seen. 

I still think killing off Diane was a mistake, although considering the purges of the early-mid '80s on GL at least she went out with a bang rather than just leaving offcamera.

Edited November 24, 2024 by DRW50

[j swift]

Diane was the impetus for Carrie's DID.  She unsuccessfully tried to have an affair with Carrie's husband while they lived in San Francisco, and then taunted Carrie about it (much like she had done with Alan and Elizabeth).  It was also a classic mystery tale that the person killed had many enemies for many reasons.  Diane had been written into a corner and with all of those who had been wronged by her, she could've never carried on Springfield. It was also a great mystery because so many other secrets were revealed during the investigation.  She was literally the woman who knew too much…

She knew Alan had illegally adopted Phillip, she knew that Henry was Quint's father, and she knew Carrie had been in a mental hospital.

Edited November 24, 2024 by j swift

[DRW50]

I do wonder if she was mainly just written into a corner for the sake of being killed off, but I agree that her final episodes were powerful.

[j swift]

Well, she had her chances and slipped out of trouble in the past. 

First, when Elizabeth fired her as Phillip's nanny.  Then when Roger found out that Alan paid a witness to perjure himself at the custody trial.  And when she tried to break up Ben's marriage.

So, it was unlikely that soap justice could be put off any longer.

[P.J.]

I didn't think she had either. But the SOC who's who (which is an iffy source, I know) said she got there in March. I swear it's August, meaning Carrie was only there about a month before Diane died.

Which also means Jane Elliot was there about a year? I wish more of this was online, even with subVanessa. Stuart is really just wrong in the role. Or if not wrong, just clashes with how Maeve played it.

I guess I didn't realize Diane and Carrie's husband had had an affair. I thought she somehow framed him for embezzlement and then he killed himself.

Diane also knew Ross had used Amanda. And that Alan had colluded with Roger and gotten him out of town. And if she didn't know Vanessa had sent Ed Rita's address in San Francisco, Joe had the info and it got mixed in with her blackmail stash.

I think I read an interview where Sofia said it was her decision to leave---but she hadn't expected to be killed off.

[j swift]

They didn't have an affair, but Diane was in love with him and repeated the Alan and Elizabeth thing.  She was blindly loyal to a bad guy, and it wound up hurting his wife (in this case Carrie) because she thought that they were having an affair.

Also, I would argue that if Carrie came to town and had multiple scenes where she argued with Diane, the mystery would've been too obvious.  And, Diane's murder led to Ross's redemption, whereas he was no longer as much of a bag dude.

In hindsight, it was reflective of the sexism of the times.  A female character like Diane had to be punished.  While guys like Alan and Roger were just sexy rouges (as well as rapist, thieves, and extortionists).

Edited November 24, 2024 by j swift

[Khan]

As much as I love Douglas Marland, I think he was asking a lot from GL fans by having Carrie, a relative newcomer, mixed up in so much story.  In the time she was on the show, Carrie managed to kill off Diane and Joe, fall in love with and marry Ross, develop DID, sleep with Josh and tank Justin and Jackie's relationship (and if Marland had had his way, Carrie also would've murdered Jackie and then have her alters confess to it at the trial).  And that's just what I can recall from off the top of my head.

Again, placing Carrie/Jane Elliot in the center of so much action was a HUGE ask.  I think we needed at least two years just to get to know Carrie before plunging her into so much drama.

Edited November 24, 2024 by Khan

[DRW50]

I also wonder if her child would have come back into play - I think he was dead but you know how that goes on soaps. 

GL was going through so much upheaval at the time. Clearly viewers were willing to embrace some change, given the popularity of Nola, Kelly, and Morgan #1, but I do wonder how they felt about Carrie. Jane is such a brilliant actress, but she was such a departure from many of the leading ladies of GL in acting style and presence. It would have been a bit like Judith Light joining ATWT in 1978. 

[j swift]

Again through modern eyes, but I wish Alan and Roger suffered a bit more due to the loss of Diane.  She was such a Lady Macbeth-type, and she really helped build the Spaulding empire.  So, it would've been at least a minor victory for her passing to have Alan acknowledge how much his company had lost by not having Diane's assistance to carry out his plots.